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Topic Review (Newest First)

01-14-2013 01:17 AM

Aquaticz

IMHO raccoons are unstoppable
They are smart and with those paws. I understand they travel the same path every 3
2-3 weeks.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

01-14-2013 12:12 AM

ApplestoApples

Shoot em!

01-13-2013 10:31 PM

Kai808

We don't have Raccoons in Hawaii but we do have wild pigs. They dug up the ground around our building at work until one of the maintenance guys started spraying Mountainlion pee(we don't have mountain lions either). Maybe this site might help. http://www.predatorpee.com/

Raccoons have very tight territories. I believe each one has a square mile in populated areas. Very hard to get all of them. Chickenwire would work, but their hands can fit through the holes very easily. Mesh of some sort might work best.

-Gordon

01-06-2013 12:27 AM

Meganne

straight sides with no shelves so predators can not easily wade in to rummage for a snack helps as well.
and a large dog whom firmly believes it is his life's purpose to catch and destroy

01-04-2013 05:10 PM

plantbrain

I had the same thing happen 15 years ago, except I went psycho and caught them in the act, I got a shovel and played whack a coon. They did not come back. 9 hits, on 4 raccoons. Raccoon golf. I like them otherwise
I'm a live trapper these days, but you remove one, another moves right, same with squirrels and other varmits.

I got real good at trapping, but after awhile, the relocation process and the stress you put them under(lost a couple of squirrels) became a hassle and many places, the live trap is illegal. You cannot just relocate them on your schedule, you have to get them out and relocated asap, and on a cold night, they can freeze to death after stressing out. But whacking them with a shovel years ago was not exactly humane either.

I suggest letting nature have it's way, or make the pond deeper and larger, get a good sized outside dog etc. Motion detector set ups can work. Lot of trouble though. Birds can easily pick off fish here also. Herons etc.

But these are nice critters to have visit, you might design things around the nature you have. I keep bonsai and have the squirrels finally trained here (they love to bury nuts in the bonsai pots). It's really hard for them to access the pots now.

I used to have pond in the front yard with some feeder fish that grew to be about 4-6". Instead of coons going after the fish, we had the neighbors kids throwing rocks at them or trying to steal the fish.

As for coons, we have squirrels running around the gutters so we set up little traps with nuts in them so we can relocate the squirrels. I never knew we had coons in the area until we set those traps! We've caught like 5 or 6 coons in the last 3 months and no squirrels!

If you ever find a way to get rid of the coons, let me know! good luck!

09-28-2012 03:05 AM

AquariumNoob

Go to walmart or a sports store, buy a 15$ Little spring airsoft pistol, and scare the crap out of the critters when they try and bug your pond ! Thats what i do with the rats here when my mom bothers me about em. Doesnt kill em, just stings a bit (I know because i airsoft and have been shot a few hundred times. Its got a nice sharp burning feeling to it, especially when your shot from 10' away :Z )

09-27-2012 10:59 PM

Diana

Lets face it: We care enough to bring home a bit of nature, a pond, an aquarium, even making a habitat in the garden for toads and feeding the song birds and humming birds, minimizing sprays to conserve insect populations and using integrated pest management.
This is an open invitation to the rest of nature that we might prefer to keep outside the fence. Raccoons, herons, bears, opossums, skunks and many other less desirable critters are going to try to move in.

A sturdy screen around and over the pond may not look great, but it will protect the fish and plants from these invaders. You can always take it off when you are having a party (unless it becomes a trellis for a vine).

A good dog can help, but mine sleep inside. They will bark if a skunk comes looking for cat food, but the skunk has figured out that there is no cat food after dark. The empty bowls just smell like cat food.

Actually, one of my dogs is quite happy to splash around in the pond, and can do as much damage to the plants as a raccoon. I better keep the wire mesh up.

How about wild turkeys? So far they have not done damage to the pond, just scratched around like giant chickens, and disturbed the mulch. (Careful where you walk!)

09-27-2012 03:54 AM

allegoriest

I mostly have a problem with large birds tearing everything up. I made a sort of dome out of chicken wire, and a grill underneath with hardware cloth. Then I have rocks hanging from the dome, holding it down. It looked kinda bleh. Until a nice coral vine grew over the top and made it pretties. I have to make cages for alot of my plants, because squirrels and rats run around or bury things in them and tear up the small ones. Then the dog comes to investigate and by then, everything is torn up. D:

08-24-2012 01:05 PM

finsNfur

Wow, sorry to hear of everyone's losses. We have raccoons here but they've never gotten into my pond. They go into the garage through the cat door, and rummage through our recycling bin in our back porch, but for some reason don't bother the pond. One night I took our dog out on a leash to do her business before bed, and a raccoon came running around the corner of the house and nearly ran into us. I do have a large net a few inches above the pond, could that deter them?

Herons though, they are a problem. One was visiting the pond yesterday morning and we scared it away. Since I put the net over it they haven't figured out how to get the fish, though.

08-23-2012 04:59 PM

mistergreen

Yeah, they'll come back until there isn't anything there anymore. It's part of their territory now.

08-23-2012 04:57 PM

BruceF

Guess who returned last night?

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